My and my office colleagues had been to this place for breakfast and I must say the dishes that we ordered were amazingly tasty. I had ordered full veggie breakfast which had avocado, poached eggs , baked beans, stir fried mushrooms, tomatoes.. The coffee was hot and good. The ambience is lovely. The location of this place is perfect. We had reserved the place so we didn't have to wait or anything. I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

Spent some time enjoying the festival that was going on, and decided to find somewhere to chill for some food - on initial glance we ignored this restaurant as it didn't look like it would be child friendly, but a quick confirmation that they had child menus (and that the kids were happy there was something they liked) and we were shown to a table. Kids wanted inside, and we had a nice table in a corner with lots of comfy cushions. Food and drink ordered fairly quickly and it didn't take too long to come. Recommend the duck salad. It was very nice. In fact we all enjoyed our meals. The kids meals also came with a desert, which made them very happy! The service was very good, and happily disappeared to get the kids more ketchup when they needed it! A nice place, wasn't overly expensive (especially for London), and if visiting the area again would certainly consider coming again.

Booked in for a cocktail masterclass which was amazing and the perfect group activity! The service, atmosphere and quality of the cocktails exceeded all expectations. Being able to choose the cocktails prior to the booking was great as we were able to cater to the group. Big shout out to Sophia who went above and beyond to make the day special ☺️✨ Will definitely be booking again in the future!

We have been to this restaurant for the first time and we loved it! Good food with great taste. Quiet place with nice staff. I would recommend the roast pork belly, very good!

Poor food, awful service. Ordered a cold meat and cheese board, squid starter, and two drinks. Drinks took 35 mins. Board arrived at 60 mins. Squid at 85 (after my partner had left). Food was mediocre. Squid miserable and had a bone (?) in it? Charged for everything, including the hour and a half squid, and added service to the bill (pet peeve of mine to force the customer to ask to remove it). Avoid.

Nice location, very well presented restaurant with big plus of having an outside space and decent service. However, the most important ingredient of a restaurant, food, was just grim. I had a burger which was overcooked, dry and not seasoned at all. Fries were soggy and not seasoned. Bun had a very strange texture. Made me wonder what it was made of??? At the end ordered a mint tea, which came with a tiny piece of brownie. The texture was too crumbly and it was like you were eating dust. Made my friend sneeze a lot. Horrendous.

First class in every way. Superb location, great staff and good food! Atmosphere was warm, busy and friendly. Very reasonably priced dishes that were served by lovely staff!!!

I was expecting much better after reading intial reviews. The Goan (chicken) Curry was appalling and the naan bread that went with it had little taste - I’ve had better at local pubs! My partner’s fish and chips was ‘okay’ and the beetroot falafel starter was well presented and tasted fine - a pity what followed! The wine was nice though.

Really nice venue and great location. The tables were pretty. Unfortunately there wasn’t much by way of vibes, staff were polite but service was extremely slow and some orders were wrong despite there being pre orders. The staff didn’t come over particularly happy or experienced and somehow the vibe was just a bit dead. They could have been a lot more welcoming and lively. Main was nice but as a person who doesn’t eat pork or mushrooms and has a nut allergy, there was nothing that I could choose without asking for adjustments. Every vegetarian doesn’t eat nuts and mushrooms and every meat eater doesn’t eat pork! The ox cheek was delicious. The cheese cake didn’t taste as though it was fresh and needed a bit more base but was presented nicely. Overall it was good, could have been better. But we had a nice time anyway.

Private room booking. Decor and the room in general was spectacular. We loved the additions of the blankets and cushions. The room was well sealed off and it even contained a TV which a plethora of shows one could watch! Service was great. Couldn’t fault it. It was the food however which was the disappointment. The starters were lovely, would recommend the calamari. I ordered the goan chicken curry and rice. The curry wasn’t really well flavoured and the rice had hard (undercooked) grains within in. The steak my friends ordered had to be sent back as it was described as being medium, but was clearly well-well-well done! The churros were over fried - super crispy and didn’t have the soft centre one loves in a churro. I would return for the starters and drinks, but not the mains unfortunately. Didn’t live up to expectation. 10/10 service and ambience though.

What positives did I have from this place? The lady at the bar was pleasant. Apart from that, we had a table of 7 and were never asked a single time of 2 1/2 hours, how the food was or if we wanted more drinks. Didn't even provide water for us. Watched them spill 3 drinks over the table next to us. Then their roast dinner was definitely out of a microwave. Was easily the worst I've eaten in 30 years. From there, they got the bill wrong 3 times. As we were waiting to pay at the table they then told us we had to get away from the table, to seat the next people, the table hadn't even been cleared yet of plates and glasses. In the men's bathroom only 1 tap works. Lots of people in blazers running around doing nothing, while a couple of service staff in aprons try and cater for everyone.

Went for Christmas Dinner in the restaurant and it was a very pleasant experience! The holiday decorations are superb for which you will feel definitely the holiday season. Christmas cracker on the table was highly appreciated as it makes you feel that they offered extra effort on the holiday dining experience. The staff are very friendly and courteous. The food from starter to dessert were really good especially the mains! Loved and impressed with the good portion and taste of the Christmas Turkey meal. I highly recommend this restaurant!

Food and service is great. Dylan served us today, he was absolutely wonderful! So attentive, very hard working and lovely front of house skills. Will definitely come back because of the great service!

Lovely place with good food and great service. The location of the restaurant is well situated near by St. Paul’s.Lovely decor and ambiance. Staff is very friendly and warm. Worth to try.

Delicious Sunday Roast and fish pie. Have been here many times before on working days for drinks and hamburger

Well ambient....very good service...really enjoyed...

Simple, yet really tasty lunch comprised of side dishes: three type of fries, fried Hallumi and tomatoe salad. Probably would not pay £3.45 for the salad again though. For pudding a chocolate opera cake which was delicious! A good balance between coffe soak biscuits, chocolate and chantilly cream topped with pistachios. Service was a bit slow even though the restaurant was nearly empty.

They fit me in without a booking, even with my request for a seat near a socket (to get out my Mac and work!) I'd just come in from the rain and wanted something warm, but they were fresh out of mulled wine. Felipe offered me an Irish coffee as an alternative, and then very happily helped me out with a Bailey's hot chocolate instead (as I don't drink coffee). He was very attentive and brought me water while I waited, and checked in to ensure everything went well during my visit. Gorgeous service and great ambience; I'll certainly return when I'm in the area, thank you! x P.S. Try the Roman fries ;)

Lovely place, has a very nice area outside too. Located right next to St Paul's Cathedral giving you a strong feeling of the history in this London area. We spent a Good few hours there Christmas Eve drinking excellent champagne and very tasty food. Around 5pm the bells of St Paul's started to ring which only added to the Christmas feeling and a perfect excuse to order another bottle of champagne. Highly recommended not just for the location but the food too. Will definitely return again.

We went as a birthday dinner for a family member. The courtyard at night is empty so makes the restaurant setting great if you want to sit outside. The Interior is okay and the chef and staff were accommodating, friendly and polite. The food was succulent. It isn't easy to find fresh seafood for reasonable price and their squid was not chewy, tasted flavourful and soft. The teriyaki salmon was good, pork belly and gravy was amazing, Coleslaw even more so. Very filling. The lower alchol section on the menu is great for those who don't drink much, so it's a dash of alcohol with fruits and juices. My Lychee Collins drink option was perfect for me, refreshing and delicious.

We held a corporate event at The Happenstance in late July 2021, for 170 guests. It was their first big event since lockdown ended but you wouldn't know it. I have to say the events team were absolutely superb. We run lots of events and they were the best team we have worked with. Super organised, attentive, cheerful and flexible. The food standard was very high. It's a lovely venue but as always it's key to have a great team running it - and they do - they made me, the host, look good! Thanks to Eva and all the team for a great job.

Glowing review here. Popped in for an impromptu lunch on bank holiday monday. Good service, nice cocktails and ordered a number of smaller dishes which were all very tasty.

Outstanding service! Great food and even famous for being used on First Dates, much to my clients surprise and joy. We used the restaurant for the Private Dining room and they out did themselves by being attentive all day. Seta is a superb people person and deserves all the credit.

Really nice location, great choice of drinks. Didn't eat so can't comment on food.

Nice bar, didn't stay long but I'd definitely visit again and enjoy the restaurant

Booked as the final destination of a 20k charity walk. On my arrival, front of house, visibly rolled their eyes at me and informed me 'that' booking was around there. They had sat us outside and as far away from the main restaurant as possible. Evidently one of the organisers had been told that our shorts, water bottles and charity shirts with the names of the charity programme on them were not appropriate attire for The Happenstance restaurant. This dress code was not raised when they took the booking, nor does it advertise this anywhere on the website. The bar staff bringing us drinks and food were, themselves, very polite and easy going. However, this did not do much to combat the behaviour of the restaurant FOH staff, the manager initially refused to bring another table out when more of us arrived, despite the tables provided seating well below the number the booking was made for. He then dragged a few tables out begrudgingly, which were sticky and disgusting. We also couldn't help but notice that every 30 minutes or so the maître d' would come out and point at us and argue a bit with the manager, then they would both shake their heads and storm back inside. A number of people arriving having just finished their 20k walk mentioned the fact that the people running this restaurant "Seem to absolutely hate us". To add insult to injury, some of the charity walkers went inside to the bar to order their drinks as when ordering via the app (with the table QR codes) it applied a non-optional service fee of 15%. This was, however, optional at the bar. Given the way we had been treated I think it was totally fair that many didn't want to pay the service fee. At Least three people reported to me that they were asked not to enter the establishment and that they MUST use the app to order. They were given no reason for this and there were no covid restrictions in place at The Happenstance. Many staff/customers indoors and outdoors were not wearing masks and walking around freely. On top of it all, the price of the drinks wasn't terrible but the food was overpriced and under portioned. Not hugely surprising given its location but for it's price you would expect the staff to treat you with a modicum of respect. Our main takeaway as a group was that we had spent a lot of money in an establishment that, while taking our money, did not think we were good enough to be in its clientele; the manager and FOH staff made this abundantly clear. The irony being that every person there works for a FTSE40 company that tenders millions of pounds of contracts each year to venues for corporate events. Every single person came away saying they would never want to use such an elitist establishment again. If this is how they treat us for not wearing a suit off a 20k charity walk, how might they treat our tired and hungry clientele who might have just come off an 8 hour flight. Great location, shameful service.

Took my wife for our 2 year anniversary lunch to the Happenstance bar over the weekend. We got welcomed by two lovely girls who were accommodating when my wife wanted to sit in the sun, which was so appreciated. Food was delicious and the drinks were very creative. Will definitely come back! Thanks team :)

We had our wedding reception at The Happenstance, which was postponed from September 2020 due to Covid. We could not have wished for a better location or team to work with. Our wedding planner Gabi was a superstar from start to finish; so organised, efficient and came up with fantastic suggestions. Rob the manager was also brilliant and led the team fantastically and all the staff were kind and fun and chatted to the guests. The venue looked fantastic inside and out and we used the smaller room for the disco which worked really well. All our guests had a fabulous time and have been saying what a great location it was (Paternoster Square is fab for pictures). Everyone loved the food and the cocktail making went down a storm. Thank you to the entire team at The Happenstance. You truly gave us all the most fantastic day and we can’t thank you enough x

Christmas work dinner. This was probably the worst dining experience I've ever had. The restaurant was rammed with at least 4 other work dinners and the staff were clearly unable to cope. They only had 2 people serving at the bar so the queue for drinks was out the door. The food was AWFUL! It took 2 hours for the starter to arrive despite everyone pre-ordering weeks in advance. The food was cold, bland and the portions were ridiculously small. -I had soup for starters. The portion size was so small that i could see the bottom of the bowl. When I asked for bread I was told after a 10 minute wait that the kitchen was too busy???? - Mains- I had the 12 hour braised ox cheek.......this was basically a sickly stew with a few pieces of questionable meat. Many of my colleagues got the turkey Christmas dinner which was cold and beige. We were told beforehand that our booking was until 9:30pm but our desserts still had not arrived by this time. Many people from our party had to leave without dessert. I complained to a member of staff who managed to get our desserts out to us at around 10pm. No apology or any sort of compensation. We all left hungry and disappointed.

Absolutely abysmal service. Came to book a table in person for Sunday roast and specifically asked if it is available. When ordering at a table for 3 we were told only 1 plate is possible. The table next to us asked for a roast and was provided a plate. Only giving one star as zero isn't possible. Additionally Atmosphere is very cold as there is not double door and the door is kept open at times. Perfect restaurant if you want to throw away money.